Police have arrested three people for allegedly selling fake Covid-19 test results, education certificates and other documents to people wanting to travel or apply for jobs.
Phloi Techaphan, 24, Veeraphol Promsaensod, 26, and Munee Bueraheng were part of a large network and were detained during recent raids in Bangkok and Phuket, police said.
Charges against them include conspiring to use fake documents, misleading people into believing they were specialists in fields of medical technology and colluding to provide fake documents.
Pol Col Thanakorn Lerdporn- charoen, deputy commander of the Consumer Protection Division (CPD), said yesterday the arrests followed complaints from the Department of Health Service Support about people selling fake Covid-19 test results.
Investigators focused on a website (https://covid-lab.airsite.co) which offered to provide Covid-19 test results for 890 baht. Customers could get the documents in an hour without having to take a test.
One officer posing as a customer contacted the website via the given Line account.
The result bore the name PCT Laboratory Service Co, but the firm denied issuing the document and later filed a police complaint, Pol Col Thanakorn said.
Pol Col Neti Wongkularb, superintendent of the CPD's sub-division 4, said Ms Phloi was arrested in Bangkok's Bangkok Noi district at the beginning of March.
Mr Veeraphol was apprehended in Phuket's Kathu district and Mr Munee surrendered to police at CPD sub-division 4, Pol Col Neti said.
During questioning, Ms Phloi denied any involvement, but the men admitted to having falsified documents, police said.
Mr Munee told police he had contacted a man identified only as "Pangpond" via Twitter to get a fake Covid-19 result before travelling to Turkey in the middle of last year.